This invention relates to improved methods, apparatus, and computer program products for applications such as measuring process conditions for processing workpieces, more particularly, for applications such as processing workpieces for electronic device fabrication.
The standard practice for using and managing a sensor apparatus such as an autonomous sensor wafer, such as that described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,691,068, is that the sensor apparatus is manually managed, i.e., a human is involved in one or more of the actions. The sensor apparatus is manually monitored for battery state, and the appropriate recharging regimen is preferably applied. When the sensor apparatus contains new data, the sensor apparatus must have communication initiated manually, and the data manually downloaded. When the sensor apparatus needs to be loaded into or unloaded from a process tool, the sensor apparatus is manually extracted from a container for the sensor apparatus. For some autonomous wafer sensors for semiconductor processing applications, the storage container for the sensor apparatus is a wafer cassette or front opening unified pod (FOUP). The sensor apparatus is removed from the storage container and placed into a charging station by a human using a vacuum wand or by picking the sensor apparatus up with gloved hands. Each of these manual operations prevents the sensor apparatus from being easily used in substantially automated production operations such as those preferred for operations such as semiconductor fabrication operations.
There are numerous applications requiring substantially autonomous sensor apparatuses and there is a need for overcoming one or more of the problems of the standard technology such as managing the sensor apparatus in the manufacturing environment, automating the management and maintenance of the sensor apparatus, and maximizing the overall manufacturing process. Examples of important applications are processing of workpieces such as semiconductor wafers, flatpanel displays, lithography masks, and other electronic devices. In order for the sensor apparatuses to be of greater use in a production environment, one or more of the manual operations should be automated.